1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a disposable plastic adaptor for connecting a medicine vial to a needleless injector.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Recently there have been many improvements in needleless injectors for medicines. Improved designs include those shown in Lindmayer, et al., U.S. patent application Ser. No. 485,046, filed Apr. 14, 1983 and in Lindmayer, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,385 issued May 21, 1985.
A basic reason for the limited use of such injectors has been the difficulties and inconvenience involved in injecting different medicines using the same injector. Generally, it has been necessary to sterilize an injector used to inject one medicine before using the same injector for injecting another medicine. However, modern medicine relies to a great extent on sterile disposable products and needleless injectors must meet this requirement to achieve wide public acceptance.
U.S. Pat. No, 4,518,385 describes a disposable syringe for use in a needleless injector. As described in that patent, it is highly desirable to have the disposable syringe in a form which can be accurately filled to a required dosage rather than being pre-filled with a fixed amount of medicine. This, of course, necessitates a convenient means for transferring medicine from a standard medicine vial to the syringe. The above patent describes one such device which includes a hollow body portion for fitting over the end of a standard medicine vial and a needle for puncturing the top end of the medicine vial.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple disposable medicine vial adaptor which remains permanently fixed to the medicine vial and is simply thrown away with the empty vial.